The estuarine lagoon and freshwater wetlands of Kah Tai are the remains of an extensive estuary to Port Townsend Bay. What survives today, though diminished, is a remarkably tranquil oasis, not wilderness but still wild. The original intent of its creation should be respected, so that this gem in the heart of our community is preserved in perpetuity.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

fire at a distance

all photos courtesy Artemis Celt

A winter just a couple of degrees Fahrenheit too warm led to torrential winter rains that should have been snow in our part of the Olympic Mountain watershed. Three percent of normal snowpack in our watershed when spring arrived resulted in water rationing - voluntary so far, but possible to be enforced.

Our water supply is surface water, taken from the Big and Little Quilcene Rivers through a complex calculation, with one simple rule: if the flow is lower than 27 cubic feet per second, we cannot withdraw water.

The Olympic National Forest is in significant part temperate rain forest, in the westside valleys of the Quinault, Queets, Hoh and Bogachiel Rivers. You don't get fires in a rainforest. But this year, you do. Relatively containable fires are burning in the Olympics.

East of the Cascades, hell has broken loose. Another year of drought and the tinder is ready. The beautiful landscape is being transformed in unimaginable ways.

If there's an upside to fires, it's the sunsets for those just distant enough not to suffer the particulates. Enjoying such sunsets feels guilty, because they mean someone is suffering, even if the fire is in a remote area. Wildlife always suffers. We forget that when humans are not present, life still goes on for other species. Human suffering always takes precedence, and it isn't at all certain that it should. There is so much more to this world than us.

Nonetheless, beautiful sunsets. Top left is smoke from the fires in the Olympics around 3 August. Next photo down is those mudflats we hadn't seen in quite some time, reflecting that fiery sunset. And bottom photo is a sunset in mid-August, courtesy of Eastern Washington's calamity.

The drought has also been good for the appearance of shorebirds at Kah Tai. The two summers that were part of Admiralty Audubon's Kah Tai Bird Survey (2010 and 2011) were both unusually wet, and few shore birds were reported because there were no mudflats. This year has hit the shore bird bonus board, while elsewhere, others pay the price.

1 comment:

We forget that when humans are not present, life still goes on for other species. Human suffering always takes precedence, and it isn't at all certain that it should. There is so much more to this world than us.Could not agree more! Thank you for your compassionate, sensitive post. Those fires were awful - but your photos of the sunsets are beautiful. Hope to see some blog updates in the near future - we were just at Kah Tai the other day, and it's so lovely on a pretty fall day! Was glad to have my own camera with me. :-)

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Kah Tai 2012

An excellent overview of earlier efforts to preserve Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park can be found here.

Kah Tai public presentations

Admiralty Audubon's November 17, 2011 program was a Kah Tai status update. Thirty-some people attended to hear about the RCO recommendation, the NPS ruling that includes all 78.5 acres of Kah Tai in the 6(f) boundary, and the Port's lawsuit against the City, RCO and NPS in an attempt to overturn that ruling.

Admiralty Audubon featured a presentation by Rick Jahnke on 17 February 2011, which included a history of the Park's creation and current attempts to develop the uplands. We estimated 40-50 attendees.

The Sierra Club of the North Olympic Peninsula presented a talk on the history of Kah Tai at their first Port Townsend general gathering, 22 January 2011. Rick Jahnke included a history of the Park's creation and current attempts to develop the uplands. We counted about 40 attendees in a standing-room-only crowd at the Community Center.

A roomful of Port Townsend citizens (we counted 65) attended a presentation on 25 August 2010. The warm-up music included two great protest songs written especially for fundraising to save Kah Tai in the late 1970s. Several visual displays highlighted the history of the struggle to protect Kah Tai from development incursions.